Volume 29, Issue 2,
May 2011

We are moving into a new age in the world of publishing. The American Publishers Association reports that for the first time ever sales of eBooks have out-numbered sales of printed books across all categories. Growth seen in the recent February 2011 figures is over 200% compared to February 2010. Similar figures are also announced by the online retailer Amazon.com.

21st April 2011, Apple announced record profits again, showing a 95% increase for it's second quarter results of 2010-2011, at $5,99bn (R41 bn) up from $3,07bn (R21 bn) for the same period in the previous financial year. It has also seen revenues rise by 83 per cent to $24,7bn (R170 bn).

Over the next 4 issues of your magazine we will be featuring a series of articles covering strategic development and formulation from the book Strategic Management: Developing Sustainability in Southern Africa.

What truly encourages employees to deliver their best results in the workplace? Many of the famous success stories in industry can be linked to internal drives to improve operational processes, for example those of General Electric and Toyota. Moreover, sustainable operations excellence is increasingly seen as the blueprint for maintaining competitive advantage. An MBA research project was conducted at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) which took the form of a case study of Sasol Mining. The main aim was to develop a better insight into the factors that could give management teams an advance indication of the sustainability of an improvement initiative or of operations excellence as a whole.

The BRICS Summit meeting of the Heads of State from the world's leading emerging market economies took place in Sanya, China on the 14th April, with South Africa joining for the first time since it's membership had been announced in December 2010. In the new emerging global economy, the term BRICS has captured the imagination of business seeking direction and macro strategic positioning. Here we take a look at what BRICS really is and how it may impact the lives of Africans in the years ahead.

Since the advent of the global financial crisis the economic landscape has changed almost beyond recognition. Market volatility has become the norm with an ever increasing trend of price sensitive customers who have far lower levels of loyalty and are less tolerant of poor customer service.

The above section discusses the overall trends concluded from this IWFSA Women Leadership in Africa Pilot Study. The data collected and trends reflected are further discussed in more detail on a country-by-country basis, serving to highlight issues or successes unique to each country. It should be noted that these findings are based on the raw data gathered from the questionnaire phase of this study. As such, the conclusions drawn from such analysis should be interpreted with an understanding of the overall limitations of this study.

REUCOMM Reputation Risk Management Master Class
Programme in Business Forecasting
Forthcoming events at UNISA
Forthcoming events at University of Cape Town
The Gordon Institute of Business Science Personal Leadership Programme
The Gordon Institute of Business Science HR for non-HR managers : optimising performance through people.

The theme for this year's 17th Physical Asset Management Thought Leadership Conference is Sustainability through Physical Asset Management. The annual conference, hosted by Pragma and co-presented by www.Reliabilityweb.com, Inc. takes place from 8 to 10 June 2011 at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West. The conference aims to find practical, affordable and sustainable asset management solutions.

Life is a set of learning experiences, but it is unfortunately true that some of the most powerful learning experiences in life are unpleasant ones. Such situations are frequently those in which something went wrong, or nearly went wrong, and these cases certainly can provide very rapid emotional experiences, for example falling off the roof while you try to repair the gutter. You soon learn not to do it that way again!

With local elections imminent South African politics has again entered the inevitable pre-election phase of excessive and often empty electoral promises, trade-off's and desperate attempts to hold together a fragile tripartite alliance. Concerns about delivering on critical national objectives move to the back burner during this phase. But political upheavals and turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East serve as an on-going reminder that complacency and self enrichment can be risky tactics for any government to follow, degree of electoral support or domination notwithstanding.

19 April 2011: South African consumers can find some reassurance in the fact that, despite the serious shocks seen around the globe in the first quarter of the year, the economic recovery underway in South Africa is still on track and growth prospects remain positive, according to Johann Els, senior economist at Old Mutual Investment Group SA (OMIGSA).

Imagine this. An advisor tells an employer that by introducing a new working practice, they could cut costs, reduce their carbon footprint, improve productivity, and make life better for their workforce. Should the employer listen hard, and think how to make it work for his/her organisation? Or should he/she say, "It sounds a good idea, but I'll limit the idea to a few senior staff members"?

The impact of HIV/AIDS not only affects those infected by the disease, but it also places a significant strain on the work environment through increased group risk costs and increased employee absenteeism. However, by taking a pro-active approach to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and employee wellbeing in general, companies and employees can benefit.